NEED FOR EMPOWERING AND STRENGTHENING RURAL CBOs/NGOs Over the past four years during my work in rural areas, I have received numerous proposals from communities in need. These proposals have ranged from educational needs, to environmental conservation, to general infrastructure projects. Some of them were well thought out, detailed, and make arguments for the proposed project. But others lacked the clarity needed to convince a potential donor or investor. Documents such as these need to answer “why” and “how” for an investor or development agency. Moreover, by answering these questions, the community gains an understanding of how much of their own time and expertise will be required to complete such a project. One proposal that I received last year in Nakifuma, Uganda, was one of these under-cooked documents. It started off as a story about a safari and a meal, with some non-descript details of a non-governmental organization; then it mentioned water, an assessment report, an existing borehole and the need for a polytechnic, and it concluded with costs for an electric pump. The writer clearly indicated that there was a need and a story to tell with lots of relevant information. Unfortunately, it was disorganized and left me to guess as to what exactly they wanted. Recently, I returned to Nakifuma to meet with the community to clarify what, exactly, they were requesting. They showed me a broken-down well and hand pump that had been provided by Macro-Uganda in 2003. It had broken some years earlier, but the organization had left without training the community in how to fix it. The first couple of times the pump broke, the community pooled their money together to pay a professional from a nearby town to come fix it. The pump began to break so often, though, that fixing it was not financially viable. Clearly, the community needed a new pump. They also spoke of a plan to irrigate nearby public land. NGOs had given them seeds for moringa, watermelon, tomatoes, peppers and other fruits when the pump was working. Once the pump broke however, the crops could not be irrigated and would fail. They then discussed ideas about leasing the irrigated land to nearby families. They had some great ideas – ideas that would really bring the community forward. They just needed to get them onto paper. I handed them an outline of questions that I wanted them to consider. I provide the outline below. It could be applied to any of the proposals that I have received. Answering the following questions should help communities and potential investors understand the work that lies ahead.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 19:09:50 +0000
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